a poem from Staceyann Chin on tomorrow's necessity . . . I have already sent in my absentee ballot, so you all go on and exercise that right.
Why the Fuck Should I Vote in 2006? (only a portion, go to her myspace to read the whole thing)
by Staceyann Chin (www.myspace.com/staceyannchin)
Less than twenty-four hours
left
before the mid-term elections
the weeks have tricked us
into days/the moment
descends and my fingers itch
for a poem
a great rage to inspire you
to rise you up
early or late tomorrow
to go vote
for Katrina
and the ill winds that flapped
incumbent at the throats of old women
who marched in Selma
for the children who will never know
the New Orleans into which they were born
for Alabama
and Georgia
for Tennessee
Missouri
New York City and how this town
has become a place
only the wealthy can enjoy
vote against these small boxes we pay
entire months wages for
every month
I have to cut something else
snip
snip
snip away at the doors Black teenagers can walk through
pile all the Puerto Ricans on top of each other
call them Mexicans
because you don't know better
if your mother is Dominican
if your father is from Barbados
your older brother is still in Belize
grandfather is in Nigeria
if your maternal grandmother is Jamaican
if you have never seen the city where your people are from
white as a WASP and liberal
or independent
or you used to be republican
Go Vote
tags: vote poem art staceyann chin culture
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